The King has thrown open the doors. He welcomes you to enter. He bids you to gaze upon his bride and proclaim, "Behold, you are beautiful". Song of Solomon 1:15

When Christ is the center, the church is beautiful, glories and the most loveliest place. It is a struggle for the church to show its beauty but reading this text, it makes me long for home. There is no fluff but a truth that we can put our hope in. A bar that is raised. It has shown my heart where I have failed and where God never fails. It is not me but the church where I grow and my sanctification happens.

Another great reminder is the holy spirit. The text using scripture builds the Holy Spirit for our comfort and our rebuke. It is easy to say we are moved by the Spirit however, the Holy Spirit is to beautify the church, not the individual. The spirit moves us to holiness not socialism.

My favorite worlds were the following

Christ is both her founder and foundation
Christ is both her judge and Her Savior
Christ is both her lover and her beloved
Christ is both her preserver and her hope
Christ is both her righteousness and her holiness

This book is a treasure for the church. Highly recommend.

A special thank you to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

As Christian’s we tend to think that church is a place we go to once a week, maybe even two or three times, and sing worship songs and listen to a pastor preach a message. The church is so much more than that. Dustin Benge goes deeper into what the church actually is. How we as Christian’s should view church and our worship to God.
Growing up, I used to think I knew what church was, but I after listening to different, but true biblical pastors, I now have a better understanding idea of what the church is really about. This is a great tool for anyone interested in what God’s church is and how we should approach.

I graciously received an advance e-copy from netgalley to review. All opinions are my own.

First sentence: The church is beautiful. Beautiful is not a phrase we often associate with the church. Words like organization, mission, vision, and even body come to mind, but not beautiful.

Dustin W. Benge's newest book is on the church. It is a comprehensive book. It is wider and broader than many other books about the church that I've read in the past. (I hope this makes sense.) Instead of focusing on little bits here and there, we see a much bigger and more inclusive picture of what the church is. And what ties it all together is this notion or concept that the church is lovely and beautiful. Again, not many books about the church chime in with that exact message.

Benge writes, "This book has one aim: to set before you a thoroughly biblical portrait of the church that derives its life from the sweet fellowship of the Father, Son, and Spirit, creating a community of love, worship, fellowship, and mission, all animated by the gospel and empowered by the word of God. By beholding such radiant beauty and loveliness, may we lift our collective and worshipful cry, 'Indeed, the church is the loveliest place on earth.'"

The chapter titles:
You Are Beautiful
The Household of God
Our Father and Friend
Our Savior and Head
Our Helper and Beautifier
A Pillar and Buttress of Truth
In Spirit and Truth
Shepherding the Flock
Feeding the Flock
Good News
In Remembrance
Walking Worthy
Blessed Persecution
We Are One
I read this book slowly. (That's a good thing.) It wasn't what I was expecting. Not really. So many books about the church either focus on the many, many, many ways the church is failing (in one way or another) OR focuses on how to do something (how to improve small groups, how to evangelize in your city, how to reach more people with your sermons, etc.) OR about worship wars.

This book takes the focus off of us, if you will, and keeps it centrally--no, exclusively--on God (the Father, the Son, the Spirit).

I love how it uses quotes from so many classic theologians.

Quotes:
The church is beautiful because the lens through which Christ regards her is his cross--the focal point of blood, righteousness, forgiveness, union, justification, regeneration, and grace. His cross makes her beautiful. His perfection makes her beautiful. It is his sacrificial, substitutionary, sinless blood that washes her garments as white as snow. The cross of Christ makes her beautiful not only inwardly by justification but also outwardly through sanctification. From giving second birth to final glory, the righteousness of Christ creates a beautiful church.
Christ is beautiful to the church because he rescued her from her enemies and set her in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Christ is beautiful to the church because he freely offered his life as payment for a debt she owed. (John 10:11). Christ is beautiful to the church because he satisfied God's wrath against her sin and victoriously conquered death (Romans 3:24-25). Christ is her Savior. Christ is her Redeemer. Christ is her beauty.
As believers, we never move past the love of Christ. We never tire of the love of Christ. A true believer is one who never gets over the profound words of the childhood song "Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so."
The church cannot exist for one moment without Christ as her life. Christ is the church's ventilator--consistently filling her lungs with life-giving spiritual breath animating her, gifting her, and empowering her. This means that we who serve in the church serve her only as Christ empowers and enables us to do so.
The beauty for which we are saved is accomplished only through an intense, heartfelt stare at Jesus.
Regeneration is literally God breathing the eternal sweet air of salvation into the corpse of a fallen sinner. (John 3:3-8). You see, all of the Christian life is powered and animated by the breath of God.
Authentic biblical worship occurs only when the very core of our being is employed in worshiping God.

This book is ok. I am not sure it is necessary, as there have been other books on the topic already that do probably a greater job than this and go more in depth. One good thing about this book is that it views the church as a positive thing, which is opposed to the current trend to see the church as an evil to live with.,

I highlighted a lot in this book! It is a beautiful book that describes what the church is meant to look like, broken down into small enough chunks that we can digest the information. I love the conversational tone that the author uses. The gentle reminders. It was a useful, lovely book and I enjoyed reading it, while also feeling challenged to become a better part of the church.

4.5 stars

As someone who is currently looking for a new church home this book touched me deeply and gave me a lot to think about when it comes to the church body.

The other shared many wonderful insights. But I am always drawn to thoughts on worship since that was such a huge part of my life for so long as a worship leader. This is one quote I highlighted: “Legitimate worship consists of thinking, believing, and living for God’s glory and honor.”

Overall a very insightful read.


A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

The Loveliest Place provides a theologically-rooted look at the church. Some of the covered topics were how God sees the church, the purpose and mission of the church, and the unity of the church.

I sometimes struggle to read books when they get heavy on the theological side. Thankfully, though, I didn't struggle too much to read The Loveliest Place. This is the "complete" version of the book, and there is a more condensed, "for the common man" version that might be easy for me, and people like me, to read.

My main complaint about The Loveliest Place was that there wasn't any clear application. While the book was full of theology and truth that should lead to application and change, there weren't any examples or next steps provided, which makes it harder for me to apply the truths that I'm learning.

Overall, The Loveliest Place provided a great look into the theology of the church.

Dustin Benge asks, “Can we say that the church is one of those unique places that conjures a sincere sense of longing, delight, and home?” He encourages the reader to consider this question from God’s perspective in his book from Crossway entitled The Loveliest Place, 2022. Through 208 pages, Benge reminds the Christian of how precious the church is to its Savior, an encouragement to every believer.

Benge‘s latest addition to the Union series represents the full treatment of his concise edition, Why Should We Love the Local Church? The Union series attempts to equip disciples who will “delight in God, grow in Christ, serve the church, and bless the world.” The concise edition gives the church access to the lesson that the teacher can investigate in greater depth with the full edition. This could serve as a useful tool for special events, or even a special series, where the church is encouraged to spend personal time in God’s word.

The Loveliest Place builds upon the premise that the church is beautiful, like a bride in the eyes of the bridegroom. Benge uses the Song of Solomon as a depiction of the love of Jesus for his church. From this, he adds numerous, meaningful descriptions found throughout the New Testament for the redeemed. I apply the Song of Solomon to the church in only the broadest manner, and nothing Benge wrote distracted me from the truth being presented. His treatment of the beauty of God and how it is reflected by the church was done well. An entire book could be written on his point that God is waiting for the completed church and longs for the relationship to come. Powerful.

If you are a Christian this book is for you. It will elevate your preparation for congregational worship. If you are leading a church that needs a reminder of the importance of the assembly, especially in our post covid lockdown culture, The Loveliest Place will help awaken sleeping hearts.

In the 19th century, preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon "captured the admiration all true believers should have for the church in his depiction of her as "the dearest place on earth." Chosen by God the Father, purchased by Christ the Son, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, the church should be cherished and recognized as "dear" by all who call her home."

Can we say this is true for us today?

Reluctance to attend worship, reluctance to serve, reluctance to trust people, the value we place on this gathering of the saints deteriorates in our muddled thinking about politics, pandemics and preferences. These struggles have always been there, but the rise of division and cancel culture increasingly lead us away from the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17.

"The church is beautiful because the lens through which Christ regards her is his cross...His cross makes her beautiful. His perfection makes her beautiful. It is his sacrificial, substitutionary, sinless blood that washes her garments as white as snow."


This is the goal of The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church by Dustin Benge, to awaken our affections for who the church is and why she exists, to reignite our admiration for who God

In the first 5 chapters, he shows us the significance of the church being God's home, and how the Father, the Son and the Spirit each participate in beautifying her. The next chapters teach on the source of her truth, how she worships, how she's led, and the very good news she carries. The last chapters talk about how she remembers, how she continues to be made lovely through living worthy lives and enduring through suffering.

He concludes by looking at Ephesians 4 and the divine oneness of the church: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father-this is where her unity is found!
"The church's growing oneness is what defines the church as having an otherness."
The bride of Christ is set apart from the world. In order to fulfill her mission, we must walk in the unity to which we were called. If we're honest, it's gonna be hard. But as we read and pray for the Lord to soften our hearts, to see the church with his eyes and the purpose he has created her for, we will see more of her beauty and glory.

I can't remember the last time a book brought me to tears, but this one did. Tears of grief over the divisive nature inside the church now, her deteriorating witness, tears of conviction for my own apathy toward her that bubbles up at times, and tears of wonder at all God has done for her, and continues to do in her, to make her beautiful.

May the Lord graciously give us renewed hope for the church as we ponder her beauty and glory.

This book is for you if you've felt discouraged with church, or if you want to more deeply consider her beauty. I highly recommend it!

Quick Stats
# of pages: 176
Level of difficulty: Easy-Moderate
My Rating: 5 stars

Do you consider the church to be beautiful and worthy of your greatest affection and delight? In this very accessible book, the author takes a journey through Scripture and writing of past theologians such as Jonathan Edwards and C.H. Spurgeon to reveal the loveliness of the church.

Each person of the Godhead works in unity to befriend, redeem, and beautify the bride of Christ. God gives us the gift of shepherds to proclaim truth and the Spirit to enliven it. The flock is fed, the Good News shared, and unity is displayed as the church grows in maturity and is granted courage through persecution.

This work of Biblical ecclesiology reminds God's people that he will never forsake his bride. This encouragement should strengthen our own love and commitment to him and our local church. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.